More than 5,600 sites across Taiwan have been designated as stations to supply daily necessities in case of a crisis, a Ministry of National Defense official said yesterday, adding that there is also the possibility of cooperation with convenience stores and supermarkets.
When a crisis occurs, the government would do its utmost to maintain stability in people’s livelihoods and the economy, and provide essential goods to everyone through a comprehensive rationing system, All-out Defense Mobilization Agency Director Shen Wei-chih (沈威志) told a news conference where the updated civil defense handbook was introduced.
The main goal of whole-of-society defense resilience is to maintain the government’s normal operations during a crisis, ensuring that daily life continues as usual, Shen said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The government planned 5,668 stations across Taiwan, he said.
The stations would be crucial for people’s livelihoods in case of an emergency, he said, adding that they would stock rice, cooking oil, salt, gas and infant formula among others.
Ministry of Economic Affairs official Wang Chi-ming (王啟明) said that his ministry plans to combine private-sector efforts, and hopes to take advantage of widespread convenience stores and supermarkets to conduct rationing operations.
It has already made preliminary contact with PX Mart, Wang said.
Lieutenant General Huang Wen-chi (黃文啟), head of the Department of Strategic Planning, said that in view of China’s increasing maritime blockade capabilities, it is imperative to enhance the stockpile of wartime supplies.
Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) has instructed that wartime supply stockpiles be increased from 30 days of rations to 120 days to improve combat readiness, Huang said.
“Our priority [wartime supply] is fuel and drinking water,” Huang said.
Other items such as spare parts, ammunition and rations, require special storage conditions, so portions of a special budget would be allocated to building storage facilities and other infrastructure, he said.
The supply stockpiles would be continuously reviewed and adjusted to maintain sustained combat capability, he said.
Wartime stockpiles refer to military supplies planned and stored based on operational concepts to support the entire duration of combat, the defense ministry said.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
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